One Way to Form a Lasting Alliance
by Lilianae
Summary: With little distractions like ninja wars out of the way, Naruto and Gaara finally have time to hang out and be friends. And to realize it's actually been a long time since they considered each other just 'friends'.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** One Way to Form a Lasting Alliance  
**Series:** Naruto  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** some language, an OC, mild manga spoilers, a bit of sex, a lot of fluff  
**Pairings:** GaaNaru main, mentioned KibaHina (and Hinata's crush on Naruto, but that's canon)  
**Setting:** canonverse, a couple of years to the future (don't want to specify how many exactly, but not too many).

* * *

**Chapter One: I Recognize The Symptoms –Do You?**

Contrary to popular belief, thinking was not a condition Naruto Uzumaki was immune to –in fact, he had fallen to it very frequently in the past two and a half days. Part of the reason was the lack of anything better to do while traveling, but he was doing it too much to be able to convince himself it was no big deal his train of thought was so unfalteringly headed to the exact same place he was nearing physically.

It was not that he didn't want to go to Suna. Were that the case he wouldn't hog every Wind Country-bound escort mission he could get regardless of rank. No, he was always happy to go see his friends there, and didn't mind in the least that Tsunade made him stay a week after every mission to assist and observe the Kazekage at his work –since he was planning on becoming Hokage and all– and to just plain hang out with him.

Basically, as the journey there and back took six days and he had people to protect for only half of that time anyway, most of his pay came from making sure Gaara had a social life, and those were pretty enviable terms.

He was pleased to say his redheaded counterpart had made a lot of progress in that field. Naruto no longer had to worry that between his visits the only people Gaara made even remotely casual conversations with would be his siblings. And when he did visit, he was never a representative of an ally nation having a diplomatic meeting with the man in charge of the whole Wind Country army.

Not that he ever had been, but Gaara was better at expressing it now. Funny how when all of a sudden you lose the reason to react to others the way you always have, it's like for a while you just have to learn the reactions themselves all over again. Laughter for one sure came in different contexts now than it had when the two of them had first crossed paths, and while it was still scarce, even the times when it was at his expense counted as good in Naruto's book. Anything to make Gaara slip up and let an unfiltered emotion escape to the surface.

So what was the problem?

There was one, that much he had at least managed to conclude. Or perhaps 'problem' wasn't the right word after all, but there was something he didn't quite understand and was beginning to want to, now that his mind wasn't so completely occupied by how to make Sasuke-bastard stop being a bastard.

Naruto quickly snapped himself out of his unproductive internal monologue when one of his charges stirred in their sleep. This was no time to lose track of his surroundings, these people trusted him with their lives. Not that an assassination attempt was likely, and they weren't _so_ rich they attracted thieves with a wide-spreading scent of easy money, but he was on a mission, and his watch was nowhere near through yet.

Slowly, he sank back into his thoughts, determined to keep at least half a mind on the current situation, even if the other half wanted to tie itself in a knot around the issue he apparently was having with tomorrow.

Tomorrow, around noon, they would be at the gates of Suna.

Once they'd be rid of their clients, he and Kiba would find themselves rooms from the guest quarters of the Kazekage mansion like him and his companions always did, and go about their separate business. Kiba would probably be off literally running around aimlessly with Akamaru, and at some point he would track down Kankuro, with whom he had become good friends. Naruto would no doubt go straight to the village leader's office to see if he would also need his nose to find _his_ good friend from behind the piles of books, documents and scrolls (Which he had come to assume found their way to that particular desk mostly of the Kazekage's own volition. He couldn't remember having ever seen Sandaime do any paperwork, and Tsunade had only been positively buried under it when she had started out as the Hokage of a village that was bureaucratically in a state of chaos. Had Gaara ever attended a ninja academy, he would have probably been even bigger an A+ student than Sakura-chan).

And then they would talk.

Why was that what worried him? Wasn't Gaara the one more awkward with social interaction? It wasn't like Naruto was nervous about getting into a conversation with Kiba (during their travel, whenever he wasn't completely lost in his thoughts, the two of them hardly shut up –much to their clients' annoyance), or even his teammate Shino, despite of the guy having such an odd way of speaking and a low threshold to being 'bugged' (Naruto smiled at his pun, feeling bad he was only telling this to himself so no one else was there to appreciate it). And Gaara and he were perfectly comfortable around each other, right?

At least when he talked enough to not do much of what he was doing now –thinking. When he didn't stop to consider what he should do or say and if he was possibly making a fool of himself, being with Gaara came very naturally to him, and he was sure his friend appreciated this openness to the point of wanting to be more so himself.

They understood each other, after all. It wasn't just having had similar pasts and knowing what it's like to have a voice inside your head besides your own. They were more to each other than that.

So why did Gaara sometimes cause him to hesitate and overanalyze some simple gesture as if the Kazekage of Suna was so fragile a single wrong choice of words or too careless a touch from his best friend could make him crumble? The same Kazekage who trusted him, always listened to what he had to say without judging him, and in return told him things he probably didn't voice so uninhibitedly to others. Who had offered him his hand and finally encouraged him to take it while Naruto had been busy stuttering, _blushing_, and staring at him like he couldn't believe those eyes that used to scare him and remind him of his own lonely gaze could look at him so affectionately.

That any two eyes could.

He had no reason to worry about forcing on Gaara an amount of physical contact he couldn't handle. Or to assume Gaara would start thinking of him as an idiot not worth his time, no matter what he did.

There was no reason for things like feeling guilty for hugging him a little too long the last time he had. It had felt good –why wouldn't it have? Naruto didn't get hugged too much either. It wasn't like Gaara had been in any more of a hurry to break the contact, even if the first of the exactly four times Naruto had put his arms around him, he had been about as responsive as one of those wooden training poles (which probably got more hugs, and hopefully more kicks and punches, than the Kazekage had been subjected to).

No reason to feel guilty about wanting to hug him again. In fact, he should do that as soon as he got to Suna.

Why wasn't it already a habit for them to greet each other with a hug?  
Waking up Kiba for his watch shift, Naruto made a mental note to change that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: A Proposal Is a Good Conversation Opener**

As Naruto opened the door to the Kazekage's office, it was immediately clear to him that he wasn't going to get a welcoming hug. Instead they exchanged a familiar verbal greeting, Gaara only briefly looking up from the piece of paper in front of him, as Naruto made himself at home and sat on the small couch like he always did.

The small _blue-green_ couch, he idly noted. Matching the blue-green table and plant pots. For one silly moment he wondered if someone had purposely redecorated the office to match Gaara's eyes when he became Kazekage, but then focused his attention back on those eyes and the paper they apparently considered more interesting than him.

"So what is that, a crossword puzzle?" he finally asked when the frown on his friend's face was beginning to grow to the extent that he looked either utterly confused by the paper or downright angry at it.

"Hm?" Gaara still didn't look up, only blinked.

"The paper," Naruto elaborated with a curious voice. "You're not even reading it 'cos your eyes aren't moving. What did it do to get a glare like that?"

Gaara relaxed a bit, leaning back with a sigh and a shake of his head, and placed the paper down on his desk (Which was unusually orderly today, had he done nothing but stared at one piece of paper all morning?). The glare didn't soften, and Naruto waited.

"I've been proposed to."

"Say what?"

Gaara sighed again. "Proposed, asked to marry someone. That is what this letter is for." He crossed his arms, something he did far less frequently nowadays. "I received it this morning."

Recovering from the shock, Naruto stood up and hurried to the desk. "But that's great! I didn't even know you had a… uh, you're not happy about it."

"I can't accept it."

"Okay. Why?"

Finally, Gaara looked at him. He really was confused and not angry, but Naruto knew that under certain circumstances those could be just about the same thing for Gaara. The redhead shrugged. "I don't know who she is."

Naruto broke into a laugh. That's right, the occupational hazards of being young, rich and handsome, and somehow Gaara always managed to be either oblivious or dead serious about things like that. "Anonymous love letter from a fangirl? Thought you'd be getting used to those by now."

"They are not that frequent, and this is a marriage proposal. That is serious." He handed Naruto the paper. "It's not anonymous, see? I just don't know her."

"Tsukiko," Naruto read aloud. "Pretty name, and you like the moon, right? Maybe you're meant to be."

"I told you not to joke about it. What am I supposed to do?"

"So you don't remember any girl called Tsukiko that could be interested in you?"

Gaara shook his head. "I should know my people better than this."

Naruto quickly placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to look him in the eye. "Hey now, it's not your fault she's a stalker. I know granny Tsunade can't possibly remember the names of all Konohans either. You're probably just too shaken to connect a face and a name and– " Suddenly his face lit up with a wide smile. "That's it! I know a Tsukiko!"

Gaara wordlessly urged him to continue. "There was one in the squad you sent me on a mission with… was it three months ago? When it almost rained?" No response. "Long red hair that's black at the bottom, with green stripes? Purple eyes, except one's kind of multi-colored and the pupil's shaped like a moon. Is it a bloodline limit or something?"

"An injury."

"Oh. But you know who I'm talking about now?"

A head of short red hair with no black ends or green stripes slowly nodded, blue-green eyes growing a little wider and looking away, then suddenly narrowing in comprehension. "She's too young to marry."

"Still a genin, I recall, but we both know rank doesn't equal age. How young?"

"Thirteen."

"Really? With that chest?"

"People grow at different paces," Gaara stated with an even voice. He was beginning to calm down now that the 'threat' was no longer imminent.

Naruto sat down on the desk. He sometimes did that, too, and nobody thought it was strange or rude anymore. Gaara never had, he pretty much let him do whatever he wanted. "Well, that's irresponsible," he muttered to himself, then looked down at the Kazekage. "Do her parents know she's asking older guys to marry her?"

"She doesn't have any."

"Oh. That's going around." He wasn't entirely sure himself whether he had meant the likelihood for a child of shinobis to get orphaned at an early age in general, or the fact that they both had. "Anyway, you should talk to her. I bet she's as confused as you were just now."

Gaara looked up at him and nodded. "I should talk to Temari first, for advice on what to say. I don't want to hurt her." He held out his right hand. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Any time." Instead of taking the hand with his right and shaking it like one might be expected to, he grabbed it with his left and just held it for a while. Another thing he sometimes did that perhaps was a little strange, but the small smile on his friend's lips was far from a protest. Why did he want to do that? He couldn't think of a situation where he would want to hold Neji's hand, as much as they were friends –and no way in hell Neji would _let_ him. Just as he was about to remind himself that he was thinking too much again, Gaara let go and gestured at him to move his ass a bit off the center of the desk so he could get to work.

Naruto grinned and moved back to the couch. As Gaara began to leaft through some previously neglected reports like nothing had happened, he let out an amused sigh. "And here I though just minutes ago that I'd get to be your best man."

"Hm." It was almost a snort. "That's not going to happen."

"What, you don't want me to be your best man when you get married?" That was almost a hurt tone.

"You assume I'm going to one day."

Now, that wasn't what he had wanted to hear in response. Naruto knew it wasn't that unusual for a shinobi to choose to remain single, most variations of the profession hardly left a lot of time for a family, after all. But short-term relationships didn't really sound like something Gaara would be happy in. He would either find someone to share his life with, or remain alone. Obviously he was convinced it would be the latter, and Naruto couldn't be sure it was for the right reasons.

"Hey… what kind of talk is that? You'll find love."

Gaara turned to look at him while stacking the papers he had just signed. "I know. I already have."

"Yeah, of course. But there are different types of it, right? You know which one I'm talking about and…" Naruto cursed to himself as he started to notice he was about to get his blushing fix now. Couldn't he visit Suna once without doing that? "…and if you think no one's ever gonna fall for you for real then that's just stupid. I mean, why the hell not? If you think it's still because you used to have Shukaku, then that's actually a bit insulting, you know. I still have Kyuubi." He huffed and crossed his arms at the end of his little reasoning, probably looking and sounding more insulted than he really was. No, it wasn't Gaara he was annoyed at –at the moment it was his own whiskered cheeks, traitorously growing pink without his permission.

"I would never think that about you." Allright –that? _That_ was a hurt tone. Uncontrollable color changes in his facial skin immediately became a secondary issue to Naruto.

"I know, Gaara. Sorry," he quickly stammered with the softest, most reassuring voice he could make, while scratching the back of his head as if he had a list of things to say to make Gaara feel good about himself hidden somewhere in the tangles of his hair. "It's just… I can't think of anything anyone could find wrong about you. Sure you can be bit difficult to approach, but it's definitely worth the effort. You can be the kindest person I know when you want to, and you're honest and loyal –that's an important quality you know– and I know you'd do anything to protect the people that are important to you, and…" Well, he didn't need a list after all. He was doing pretty good by just saying what came to mind and meaning every word. "As for looks…"

At least he wasn't the only one blushing now. Gaara didn't do it quite as often, and it looked like he actually did have some control over it, but his paler skin made it glaringly obvious whenever it happened. By the time Naruto was done describing the Kazekage's pretty, kind of tuggable hair, mysterious, kind of sexy eyes and soft-looking lips that were terribly cute when he smiled, and explained why he didn't need to look like he trained taijutsu 24/7 to have a nice body and given a bit of detail on why he thought Gaara did indeed have that, he wasn't sure which one of them had a redder face. Before he could stop himself, he finished by noting how that body should be draped in baggy robes like that a lot less, and muttered something barely audible about his friend's ass as the reason why.

"For a guy, that is," he finally added. Neither of them spoke for a while.

"You really think so?" Gaara almost whispered.

"Y-yeah. See? No reason to think you'll die a virgin."

"Again."

"Now who's not being serious? I mean it."

And there it was, one of the sporadic occasions of hearing Gaara laugh. It was only a small chuckle, really, but Naruto didn't have much to compare to. He had heard _about_ what a good old full-on cackle sounded like coming out of Gaara's vocal cords, but Sasuke wasn't an entirely unbiased source.  
Yet the smile, however cute, was sad.

"You are right, there are different types of love," Gaara said with the smile that didn't reach his voice. "I wish to protect my village and deserve the respect I want to receive from it in return, I believe that is love." His eyes moved away from Naruto, and locked on the door across the room for the lack of a better target. "The friends I have made… I want to protect them in particular. I want them to understand and accept me, and not be kind to me just because I'm the Kazekage. I want to trust them enough to believe they do so. That is also love. What I feel for my siblings is a stronger version of that, I know they will stand by me no matter what and I will do the same for them. I couldn't bear to lose them. What they have done for me in the past shows they also wouldn't take losing me too well."

Naruto couldn't help but admire as one of his friend's features that said 'leader material' again presented itself. He had noticed it already when they had been children, albeit in a different context –whether it was about politics or his personal history, Gaara had a way of effortlessly making others shut up and listen when he had something to say.

"So as you can see, I have found love. However…"

"Hm?"

"There is more, the specific kind of love you were trying to convince me I could find."

Naruto just nodded. Yes, apparently they were going to be talking about love for the rest of the day. That would be okay, Gaara needed to, and it was quite flattering that he was the one to have this conversation with him.

"I believe I have found that also," he heard the Kazekage say.

Another silence. Now Gaara was waiting for him to respond, even if he wasn't looking at him, having moved his stare to his hands that rested on the desk. "You… you have? That's... You haven't told me about that one," Naruto finally made stumble out of his mouth. Good enough.

"I didn't know that's what it was until very recently, but I'm sure now. I care about this person so much more than I have ever cared about anyone. There is no one I trust more, no one as precious. If there is someone who I think truly understands and accepts me for who I am… perhaps even likes who I am… it's this person."

Naruto was struggling to breathe. He should be happy for his friend, if anyone deserved to be loved and cherished, it was Gaara. But part of his mind was trying to insist that he was… _jealous_ of this person who was suddenly so precious to his friend, his mirror image –_his_ Gaara, his _precious person_. They had always had a bond that was different and somehow stronger than the ones he had with others. They had an understanding, they connected. Those words were what _he_ thought about _Gaara_.

He was trying to tell himself that he was being horrible, selfish and possessive and that he needed to stop that and support his friend. They had been alone, and they had found each other, but that was no reason to cling on forever and not let the other live his own life, was it? Hadn't he just now been nudging Gaara towards considering the rest of the human population romantically instead of just quietly forgiving it?

"He must care about me, too. So much of what I am now is thanks to him."

Naruto gasped as he heard 'this person' being specified as 'he'. That did explain a lot, for example why Gaara thought he wasn't going to have a wedding. Same sex couples were nothing unheard or even particularly disapproved of, but the tradition of marriage didn't extend to them as it was at root a contract of conceiving and raising children together –obviously the Kazekage's boyfriend wasn't going to give him an heir. Naruto shuddered at the word 'boyfriend' and immediately wondered why. He didn't find it disgusting that Gaara was… well, gay, did he? He could never find Gaara disgusting, even if he did now wish he would shut up about the guy who had without a warning surpassed The Great Naruto Uzumaki on his list of important people.

No such luck. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have bothered to attempt half of what I have accomplished. Perhaps not anything at all. I would still be miserable and angry… no, I would be dead," was the next line of description, and Naruto couldn't help but realize, at least, that _he_ had saved Gaara's life. Not alone, but narrowing it down, either Gaara had been in need of saving more times than he had mentioned, or the object of his affection was among the people who had been there to fight to find him, take back his body from the Akatsuki, and bring him back to life.

Gaara squeezed his eyes shut. "And if not, as good as dead. So much of my life before him was based on incorrect conclusions. He didn't save only my life. But I wouldn't feel like this simply out of gratitude, even if I do want to make him proud of me." At this point Naruto noticed he indeed wasn't breathing. Surely Gaara couldn't mean… But he couldn't take all that credit, he hadn't had any choice but to do what he had done. He had had to protect Sakura and Sasuke… and Gaara. He had had to try to make him see that they shouldn't be enemies, how could he have not? Had he really had that much of an effect?

The blush was back on the usually pale and impassive face tenfold. "There are things I feel when he is near me or in my thoughts. I want to… do things I would never do with anyone else."

Naruto swallowed. When had he gotten up from the couch? His body was really not under his control today, was it? "What kind of things?" he finally said with a breathy tone he didn't expect to hear from himself in a situation where he wasn't physically exhausted. He took a step closer.

"To… touch him and be close to him." The voice trembled a little.

Another step.

"For him to touch me, and sometimes he does. I don't want him to stop."

He didn't stop. A few more steps and he would be behind the desk and beside him.

"When he hugs me, and holds my hand, I feel more at peace than I have ever dreamed I could be."

Yes, hugging Gaara felt really good. Naruto had never wanted to let go of him, even with that first handshake he had tried to linger as much as he could without having to come up with an excuse. Still, he wanted to be closer than that.

"Even so, I want him to be closer. To do more." Gaara was whispering again, and his hairless brows were knitted together in what could be worry or need. He looked like he had so much emotion inside him right now he was going to burst if it didn't come out in some comprehendible form. Naruto was finally beside him and turned the chair so they were facing each other.

"What is it you want him to do?" He was whispering as well. He thought of the things he could do that were more than a hug, and again summoned in his mind a random person from his list of friends to compare, making sure the person was male. The thought of hugging Sai did not sit well with him, though he could do that if he had to –that's what friends were for, after all: being the better choice for education on human behavior as compared to some boring guidebook. Still, somebody else was definitely going to have to pick up from there.

Sakura he would be glad to hug, but his mind refused to form an image of doing what was 'more'. He had stared at her in class when he had been eleven and chased her around like kids with crushes tend to do, but years had gone by, and they had gotten to know each other better than as 'that cute girl' and 'that stupid boy who won't leave me alone'. Didn't he only flirt with her anymore when he remembered he was 'supposed to'? Just because he didn't have any siblings by blood didn't mean Naruto didn't find kissing his brother (however accidental it might have been) _or_ sister quite a bit wrong.

_Gaara_ wasn't wrong.

His face kept getting closer, though locks of red hair were still pressed to the backrest of the chair. Naruto realized he was leaning forward himself. "Gaara. Tell me."

"I think..." He could feel the words on his face, punctuated by heavy breaths. "I would like it if…" A sharp inhale. A little closer. "…he kissed me."

His hands found their way into the red, kind of tuggable hair as he did.

The quiet sound Gaara made was something between a whine and a moan, and Naruto couldn't be sure whether it was out of surprise, discomfort or something else. He moved his lips over Gaara's thinner ones (which he noticed were indeed soft) experimentally, not getting much of a response. Was he doing something wrong? He wanted to do it right, to make Gaara enjoy his first kiss. Hadn't they both wanted it?

A terrible thought crossed his mind. Maybe he had misunderstood after all! What right did he have to suddenly assume that so much of Gaara's life revolved around _him_? 'Someone who understood' and 'had saved not only his life' could still easily mean someone else. Just because Naruto had realized the type of love he felt for Gaara was more than what he felt for a friend…

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" He pushed himself away from the chair and quickly stood up straight. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have…" The blue-green eyes looking up at him were full of confusion and hurt. He had really fucked up there, hadn't he? "I just… I thought you meant… that you were talking about…"

Gaara let go of the armrests he had been clutching and stood up, still looking at him. When he spoke, his voice sounded angry, like a reminder of their earliest encounters, only deeper now with age. "Were you listening to me at all?"

Naruto debated with himself about two fitting reactions. Should he get angry as well and defend himself, or try to calm his friend down and make sure he hadn't despite of all his assumptions of trust made Gaara not want to be friends with him anymore? The latter quickly won. The former was a reaction reserved for a different friend, and Gaara wasn't Sasuke. Maybe he really did think of him as fragile.

Before he could act out his intentions, however, the Kazekage of Suna grabbed him by the collar of his jacket as if to show it took more than that to crumble him, and pulled his face close to his own again.

"You need to stop being so hasty."

What, all of a sudden Gaara was smiling again? Actually, more like grinning. "I told you," the redhead continued, all traces of anger gone from his voice, replaced by something equally scary.

No, not scary. Thrilling.

Head tilted to the side and eyes slid close, covered behind black lids. The hand loosened its grip on his collar and he felt his own being guided back to the red hair. Right before slowly bringing their lips together a second time, Gaara finished his sentence.

"I don't want you to stop."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Best or Worst Recon Mission Ever**

Little by little, their lips moved together, bolder every second. Nipping and massaging, pressing and brushing –exploring and discovering what felt good and doing more of what did. It was clumsy and uncoordinated, but was slowly growing synchronized.

No permissions to move further were asked, as both knew those would be willingly given.

Tongues touched half-accidentally, as their mouths opened at the same time for a millisecond's gasp for air and didn't part after all. Startled, but curious, they touched again, and followed the lips' example in beginning to taste and acquaint each other.

Naruto's hands had moved from sliding fingers through his hair to hugging him close by wrapping arms around his neck, and at the moment they were on his shoulder blades, trying to feel his back muscles move beneath his clothes. His own were on the blond's waist, sliding up his sides under the jacket every now and then. They both wanted desperately to touch, but couldn't seem to decide where. Their hands just wouldn't stay still.

The only sound Gaara could hear was the two of them. The fabric of their clothes rustling as it was pulled around violently like the obstacle it was. The wet smacks of their mouths, and every now and then a sudden clack of teeth when they fell out of pace. The labored breathing coming through their noses to the other's cheek, as well as the short gasps to keep enough oxygen coming so that they wouldn't have to _stop_ because of passing out.

Every time his hearing registered Naruto's voice make a muffled hungry grunt or a moan, his hands moved a little faster and squeezed a little tighter, and if possible, his mouth suckled on the one making those noises a little harder. Between all these sounds, he could spot his own voice betraying his self-control and letting go of similar noises of pleasure.

All of a sudden Naruto's hips bumped into his, making him cry out into his love's mouth. It had been only a small motion, but his body growing over-sensitive, and especially so in certain places, had made him feel it much more vividly. Vaguely, he realized he had been pushing into Naruto hard enough to make him move backwards and that they had hit the desk.

He didn't stop pushing, and Naruto didn't stop moving.

When the blond's back hit the surface of the desk, he pulled himself up a little to adjust his uncomfortable position, at the same time giving Naruto time to push away a scroll that had been caught under his shoulder. They didn't stay apart long, but when Gaara dove down again his lips went for the tanned neck instead of mouth. The collar of the jacket was in the way, and his hands quickly maneuvered themselves from around the small of Naruto's back to unzip the garment and toss it open, then settling themselves on the nearly exposed chest, rubbing over the mesh top.

Underneath him, his most precious person was panting, nearly whimpering, and muttering words that included spontaneously thought up combinations of cursewords, and his name. He would never have thought that finding the word that meant him in such company could feel so exciting –his name practically _was_ a curse all on its own.

Naruto's hands were fisting his hair again, and his body was trying to arch up to be closer. No, one hand was in his hair. The other one was tugging on the back of his thigh to put an orange-clad leg between the two of his, having trouble in doing so because of the robe.

This was definitely an acceptable definition for 'more'.

Just when Gaara was beginning to let himself forget about and completely block out his surroundings, he dragged his head back from the clouds and his mind from the gutter to tell himself that they were in his office, in the middle of the day when he was _expected_ to be found in his office, and that he was just about to get found in his office very nearly having sex on his desk as there were footsteps nearing the door that had absolutely no reason to be locked. He only had a few seconds to sit back down in his chair and try to straighten his robes, quickly whispering to Naruto to get up and watching as his love panickedly understood the situation and barely managed to sit up and rezip his jacket, when there was a knock on the door.

He could have stalled telling them to enter, but he should have no reason to, so he didn't. A layer of sand on his face to help him hide the extra blood gathered there, he nodded a greeting to the tall man addressing him by his title.

Naruto stared at Gaara in a half-daze, trying to even out his breathing, feeling a little jealous that his love had the unfair advantage of hiding his real skin under a sand armor efficient enough to allow you to sport an ear-to-ear maniacal grin if you so wished while appearing completely indifferent. He was glad they both at least had a hairstyle describable as 'perpetual bedhead', so he didn't have to worry about that part of his appearance (It took him a few seconds to realize his forehead protector had ended up on the floor at some point, though, but he wasn't going to draw any attention to himself by picking it up now). Baki and Gaara exchanged words Naruto's mind was in no condition to comprehend, and nothing in that deep voice leaving the lips he could still feel on his pulse point contradicted with the calm facial expression. Oh yes, Gaara could really put on a mask when he had to.

Naruto, however, was a horrible actor, and Baki was an observant critic. "Is everything allright?" he heard the older man ask as their eyes met.

Before his partner in crime could screw up and start stuttering the same answer in a far less believable manner, Gaara came to the rescue and said it for him. "Yes, there is nothing to worry about."

"Nothing out of the ordinary?"

Gaara considered this. His former teacher was the closest he had ever had to a father figure (Yashamaru had been more of a _mother_ figure, really), and one of the few people who had believed in him and supported him already when he could offer no proof that the belief wasn't ungrounded. He could trust him with this secret, but not quite yet. They needed to get their heads straight about what exactly the secret was, first. "Nothing we can't handle," was his diplomatic response.

At that, the jounin nodded and left them alone. When the door finally closed, Naruto let go of a sigh of relief and turned to look down at Gaara from the desk he was still sitting on. The sand armor was gone, and the pale but flushed face was adorned with a loving smile instead. Gaara held out his hand a second time that day, and Naruto immediately grabbed it in his with a squeeze. They kept their gazes locked together, grinning like idiots.

"Close," was all Naruto could say at first.

"We should continue that later. The office is not the best place for privacy," his redhead stated.

"Heh, yeah. But I sure wouldn't mind having you all to myself right now."

"You have me," Gaara said, squeezing Naruto's hand in turn. "Have had for a long time now."

If possible, the whiskered cheeks stretched with an even wider smile. "How long?" he asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Soon after we fought, I suppose. Definitely after seeing you again before you set out for your journey," Gaara thought aloud, reliving in his mind the awkward but comforting conversations they had had in Naruto's hospital room and his apartment in that short period of peace shadowed by nearing big decisions and all too recent losses. Just being together had given them both strength to face the changes in their lives. "You?"

Naruto finally averted his eyes from Gaara's to think about it. He looked at their linked hands instead. "Sometime during that journey," he settled. "I was so clueless about it, though, but I missed you. Then I got back and heard about how you'd been doing… well, at that moment, I really was proud of you. I still am, you beat me at my own dream and I can't even be jealous of you." His smile died down a little as he got to the next point. "When I found out you were in trouble, I couldn't have been more grateful to the hag for ordering me on the mission to help you. I couldn't wait to get to beat the living shit out of the bastards who'd hurt you… and then…"

For a while, Gaara was certain Naruto was going to start crying again, like he had been told he had cried over his dead body. When the blue eyes that had been the first thing he had seen on that day met his again, however, they didn't have tears in them, and he felt relieved. He never wanted his love to have to cry for his sake again.

"I realized," the blond continued, "that I'd never been as alone as during the hours when the world didn't have you in it." He brushed the sadness aside like only Naruto Uzumaki could, and laughed. "How did it take me this long to get what it meant?"

Gaara shrugged. "You have a life outside of me, I don't blame you. I took my time, too." Another squeeze of his hand. "I meant what I said earlier –had you not interfered, the world wouldn't have me. Even if I wasn't dead, it wouldn't be the me that is now receiving all the love you encouraged me to look for once again. I had given up."

Embarrassed, Naruto looked away again, smiling the shy little smile he made a lot more often in Gaara's presence than anybody else's. "I didn't change you. You did that all by yourself."

"You made me want to, and that is more than anybody else can say. Right now, I think I would be aimlessly wandering the desert or sitting on a rooftop trying to think up excuses to kill something. Feeling hatred and fear directed at me everywhere I went and hating the world right back. Instead, I'm here in this office…"

"Doing paperwork," Naruto interrupted him with a mischievous grin, narrowing his eyes to slits.

"That's not all there is to this, you know," Gaara scowled, but couldn't bring himself to be angry for real.

"How about making out with the hottest man in all Five Great Shinobi Nations?"

"Yes…" the redhead contemplated and leaned forward. "That does sound more desirable."

Naruto met him halfway. The kiss was slow and gentle, but brief enough that they wouldn't get walked in on. Nonetheless they didn't lean back immediately after, and the leisure moment of smiling at each other with foreheads pressed together was concluded with one more quick peck.

Naruto glanced at the clock and shook his head. "If that's all I get to do to you, these are going to be the longest five hours of my life," he sighed, recalling from his past visits the earliest time of the day the Kazekage would allow himself to drop his most urgent duties and retire to his private life.

"Speaking of which," Gaara smirked and raised a brow in challenge. "What exactly are you planning on doing to me?"

"Oh…" Naruto felt the blush seep back to his face. "You know…"

"No, that's exactly why I'm asking. I'm not sure whether either of us knows very well. You have never slept with anyone before, correct?"

"Well, yeah. Been subjected to plenty of sex-ed just by hanging out with Ero-Sennin, though." Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "But you've got a point; I'm not sure how much of that info's any good since neither of us is a girl…" His free hand found itself scratching the back of his head again. "Damn, I wish I'd known sooner that my first time'd be with a guy, I could have asked him. I bet he at least _knew_ some stuff… How about you?"

Gaara tilted his head to the side, looking a little apologetic. "Just the basics of what goes where, and that certain adjustments need to be made in a case such as ours. As I haven't had much interest in the subject before, I'm afraid most of my knowledge comes from books on human anatomy. Nothing too detailed or practical."

"I think we need help."

"To say the least. That is why I've decided to give you something to do for those five hours."

Naruto gave his love a suggestive leer. "Are you ordering me to go information-gathering, Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara nodded, face serious. "This is a little sudden, and we don't necessarily have to go that far yet. But should we both want to, I refuse to get into bed with you unclothed only to glance around confusedly and ask 'now what'."

Shivering pleasantly at the mental images the word combination 'get into bed with you unclothed' being said with Gaara's even voice conjured, Naruto hopped off the desk to bow in mock subordinance and kiss the hand he was still holding. "Shall be done," he purred, and pulled Gaara to his feet.

For a while they just held each other tight, Gaara's cheek pressed against Naruto's shoulder because of their slight height difference (they had both grown, but apparently it was always going to be that way). When the kiss that followed started to get a little too addictive, Gaara pulled away to remind Naruto that he was supposed to be leaving, and looked at him with eyes that promised he would soon get more than enough of what he was now denied.

"I will see you tonight," was all he said aloud.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Going Out By Staying In**

"Why the long face?"

Gaara barely acknowledged his brother's question and continued to finish the last mission report he was going to read that day. He looked up again when he heard an amused snort.

"Come on, Gaara, you really have no idea you've been smiling like the cat that got the cream the whole time I've been here?"

Trading his dreamy expression for that of surprise, the younger of the Fourth Kazekage's sons touched his face hesitantly. The older one laughed.

"Yeah, I figured you didn't know you were doing it. I take it something good happened today?"

"I take it you want to hear what it is." Gaara put down the report. There –no more work today, and it was almost time for Naruto to get back. In the meanwhile he might as well entertain Kankuro's bad attempts to mask his curiosity as small talk.

"Of course I want to know what's making my little brother so happy. Isn't that kind of necessary for keeping it around all the time?"

He had to admit, that was actually quite touching. But Gaara had the suspicion he would have been asked about his day even if he hadn't been smiling, so his own curiosity kept him from letting his guard down completely.

"Well, that," Kankuro confessed, "and we ran into Naruto and something he told Kiba was apparently terribly funny. But he won't tell me what it is and told me to ask you instead, because I'd never believe it coming from him and it's not really his business."

Gaara only blinked in confusion. He had a pretty good idea of what the news had been, but… "He thought it was funny?" He had hardly even considered how their other friends would react to their relationship upgrade.

"Eh, maybe not funny, more like great news, but he did laugh a lot. Mostly at Naruto, I think," Kankuro quickly added when he picked up on the uncertainty in his brother's voice. "So, is it my business?"

Gaara looked at the clock again. He had no obligation to be there, even when he still had work to do, but he was supposed to meet Naruto at the office, and if he was going to be punctual, he would be there in about three minutes. Kankuro didn't miss the glances, and knew just as well the Kazekage didn't need to be 'let' home, he could decide his own schedule. "Looking forward to something?" he laughed, and realization began to creep in. "Oh don't tell me… does my baby brother have a date?"

Regaining his confidence, Gaara smiled again. Yes, there was no need to keep it a secret from his family, was there? 'Standing by him no matter what' and all that. "He may."

"Well that _is_ great news! About time, too," Kankuro beamed, and for a moment Gaara thought he was going to slap him on the back. "Do I know her?"

After a few second's consideration, Gaara deemed it too much trouble to correct the gender pronoun –they would have more time for this conversation later. At the moment he was just relieved to be able to share with his brother that he had found someone. A nod was answer enough.

"Not someone I've dated, though?"

That, however, deserved more of a reaction, and Kankuro was baffled to see his brother's shoulders begin to shake with suppressed laughter as he leaned forward, resting his forehead on one of his hands folded in front of him. "N-no," Gaara stammered between hitched breaths, "definitely not one of your exes, rest assured."

"Okay…" He was a little taken aback by the sudden giggle fit, but not enough to drop the subject. "Is she good-looking?"

Gaara lifted his head to look up at him and calmed down a little. "Hottest in all Five Great Shinobi Nations," he muttered with a grin through the fingers he was leaning his chin on. Before Kankuro could say anything to that, the door was knocked on, and opened at the same time without waiting for an answer. In stomped Konoha's Orange Flash himself.

"Naruto, you little sneak! Why didn't you tell me my brother's found a girlfriend?"

Said sneak looked at Kankuro, then at Gaara, who just smiled and shrugged, like he was sorry but found the whole situation way too hilarious not to play along in. Naruto got the hint. "Well, he's been a bit nervous about it, you know, like what if it doesn't go well and he's already told everyone… I didn't mean to tell Kiba, he guessed."

Not sure what Naruto could possibly have told their mutual friend to make him read from between the lines that Gaara of the Desert was about to go on his first date, Kankuro settled for just being the supportive older brother. "Oh, well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time," he assured, patting Gaara on the shoulder as he got up and walked to the blond. The gesture earned him a grateful nod in response.

Grinning widely as ever, Naruto turned to Kankuro as he led Gaara out the door. "He definitely will, I'm here to make sure of that."

Kankuro shook his head in disbelief. Would his brother really be allright taking romance advice from Naruto of all people? He should have asked him instead. Then again, what Naruto promised, he followed through with, and it wasn't like the guy had had any negative influence on Gaara's life so far.

He turned off the lights in the office and headed out.

--------

Peeking around the corner, Naruto wasn't sure why he felt like they needed to stealth around like they couldn't be seen together. It wasn't anywhere near the first time he had gone to Gaara's bedroom late at night (and it _wasn't_ even all that late now). Of course, the fact that this time they wouldn't be just talking and playing cards was a valid argument for irrational behavior, and the secretiveness made the thought all the more exciting. "Clear," he whispered to the Kazekage, who was leaning against the wall behind him and wondering whether his friend was being guided more by his shinobi instinct or his inner child at the moment.

Naruto closed the door with his body weight and looked up with a positively predatory glint in his eyes –and sure enough, Gaara was in for an attack he wouldn't even consider blocking. They smiled into the kiss that quickly got rough and heated. Finally. It had been a long five hours indeed.

Feeling Naruto fumble with the cloth around his neck, Gaara pushed him away. "Let me do that, you'll tear it."

Naruto pouted, but only half-heartedly –no, he wasn't going to object to watching the redhead undress himself. He sat on the bed, flicked on the bedside lamp, and begun to remove his sandals.

"You're not mad that I told Kiba, are you?"

Judging from the tone of his voice, Naruto concluded that Gaara wasn't. "You said he guessed."

The white robe was hung in the closet, and a Konoha forehead protector set on the bedside table along with a crystal necklace. "I was just going to let him know I wouldn't be in my room this night in case he noticed and wondered where I've gone, but apparently he's been on to us for a while now. Figured out right away where I'd be." The white sash came off and the blue robe fell open. "Did you know Hinata's had a crush on me since we were kids?"

Gaara paused for a moment before setting the robe aside. They had talked only twice, but he remembered the Hyuuga heiress. She had always seemed to have a lot of admiration for Naruto, and he never forgot people who had something in common with him.

"Well, I didn't. Either way, Kiba's been trying to get her to notice him instead, so I guess he's grateful to you for eliminating the competition," Naruto continued, cheerfully.

Kicking off his sandals, Gaara climbed onto the bed and sat down cross-legged at the center of it. He reached out a hand to caress a whiskered cheek. "I hope it works out for them. Lest I have to eliminate my competition as well."

"Not funny, Gaara."

"Yes it was." He leaned over and kissed the cheek.

"So…" Naruto began, suddenly nervous again. He hoped this was the closest to a 'now what' moment they were going to get.

Gaara inched closer and nodded. "I trust your mission was a success."

"You could say that. At first I had no idea where to start, but then good old Ero-Sennin gave me advice after all! To 'gather information' on women, he'd peek at them at the baths, right? So for information on what kind of stuff guys do to be able to have sex with each other you…"

"…watch guys have sex with each other?" Twitch.

"Uh, don't get me wrong, hey! I just remembered what _other_ kind of videos they must rent out at that place, too."

That meant other than horribly bad horror movies, which they had rented a couple of times because Gaara found the fake gore funny and Naruto found the beyond-stupid characters funny (_obviously_ the movies were made by people who had never had any ninja training, or else the entire cast except for the boogeyman would have been alive by the end), and they liked mocking these things together.

Recalling none of the guest rooms had a television set, Gaara glanced at his and wasn't surprised to see beside it a pile of three video cassettes he hadn't put there. "So then you snuck into my bedroom for the rest of the afternoon to watch porn?"

"Nah, there's only three tapes; they don't take that long to watch. I guess I spent the first hour convincing myself to go in and rent them, 'cos everybody kind of knows me around here now and…" The nervousness was wiped away by pride for his clever trick, and the grin to match. "Well, then I thought of hengeing myself into some random guy and got to take my time picking the least scary-looking ones without feeling eyes on my back. _Then_ I snuck into your bedroom to watch porn."

Then he had been completely weirded out at first, and tried his best to take notes and keep in mind that what he was watching was about as exaggerated as the stupid splatter films. Then he had started imagining the two of them doing similar things.

Then he had had to go to his room to change his boxers, and then he had ran into Kiba and Kankuro, and then–

"And then I went shopping." He reached into the pouch he had taken off his hip and placed on the bedside table along with his other accessories, and took out two items.

"To lessen the friction?" Gaara stated as he examined the small tube. It was only barely a question –the theory seemed fairly logical, after all.

"Yeah, since guys are kind of 'lube not included'. It'd probably hurt like hell without something there."

The redhead simply nodded and picked up the second item, slightly furrowing his brow. "Is this needed as well? I don't think either of us has any diseases or the ability to become pregnant."

So Gaara recognized a pack of condoms when he saw one –good, one thing less to explain. He had said his knowledge on the subject was '_mostly_ from anatomy books', after all.

"I don't wanna risk giving you some nasty infection either. You'll be sticking your dick up my ass, right? It's not exactly the cleanest place in the human body." If he hadn't been part of the situation himself, Naruto would have laughed at the absurdity of it. Oh the discussions you end up having when you're about to seal the deal with the person you've just realized you want to spend your life with.

What had he been expecting, though? Poetry on a bed of rose petals as they just fell into the act with natural perfection? That scenario didn't really sound like it had either of them in it, so he was happy to be here, blushing and stumbling with Gaara instead.

Blue-green eyes widened a little. "You want me to assume that position?"

Naruto shrugged. "Why not? We can take turns and I'll top next time."

He tried to sound like it was just as well either way, but he had in fact thought about it and come to a decision. Gaara would go first, because he needed to feel trusted –just as much not to hurt Naruto as to be able to make him feel good. It wasn't that he didn't feel a little terrified himself, but he really wanted them to do this together, and he _did_ trust Gaara.

It wasn't sudden. They were close, and they had yearned to be close physically, too, for a long time now. So close, like they would never be to anyone else, closer than what was even possible. Sex wasn't quite that entwinement-merging-assimilation-thing that would probably finally be enough, but it should suffice.

"But… aren't you the one who knows better what to do?"

Naruto wrapped his arms around Gaara's slim waist and allowed his breath to tickle a pale-skinned ear when he spoke. "I can tell you."

His love chuckled, perhaps not entirely because of the tickle. "You mean order me around?"

He began to move his hands to slowly rub the back clad in a clingy dark shirt. "Would you like that?"

"Yes." He felt Gaara's smooth hands slip under his top and travel up along his sides again, slowly pulling the garment off him.

"You sure? I can beg, too."

Gaara shut him up with a kiss and told him, their lips still loosely touching: "Being with you is the only fantasy I need to fulfill tonight, you don't have to try anything."

And then they fell into the act with natural perfection.

Or they might as well have, because truthfully, the whole experience had been so overwhelming, that later Naruto couldn't remember in full detail the first night he slept with Gaara.

He did remember the gentle, almost painfully patient touches they had started sharing, and how such slow-motion hadn't been any less arousing than the rushed groping from earlier. No doubt they would get to use that desk for a heap of things it wasn't intended for, but that could wait. When you have all the time in the world to make sure every inch of you and your lover's bare upper bodies receive some variation of a kiss, you don't trade that opportunity for a 'what the hell just happened' quickie in a semi-public place.

He remembered finding out he had a tickle spot at the bend of both his knees, and that Gaara's hands were liable to scalp you if you put your tongue anywhere near a nipple without giving them something else to do.

Mouthing the scar not too far from the left rosy nub had had a similar effect, but Gaara didn't seem to have liked that much. Naruto had made a mental note to talk to him about it later, because Gaara should know that having that mark wasn't a sign of any kind of weakness, but in fact counted among the most fortunate things that had happened to them. Who knows how things would have ended years ago, if the volatile boy, whom nobody would then have believed to be the next Kazekage, hadn't caught a Chidori to the chest?

He was sure that if _their_ fight had left any permanent scars, Gaara wouldn't have minded having those licked.

He remembered how he had finally gotten rid of the redhead's pants in order to have his first try at what was misleadingly called a 'blowjob' despite of not really involving any blowing, when he had tactfully blurted out: "I thought your balls'd be bigger."

"Is there something wrong with my balls?" the slightly breathy but otherwise perfectly serene voice had enquired him back.

"No, it's just that Shukaku being a tanuki I thought they'd be hu–" And then he had dodged a kick aimed at his shoulder. "Right, right, 'get on with it'... gotcha."

He remembered that it had ended with his face messy and Gaara apologizing and offering to help him clean up. He had said he didn't have to, until he had found out the method.

"Salty", the Kazekage had muttered to himself after the first lick and turned back to him to give another one.

"You like salty things, don't you?"

"Mm-hm. Hold still."

Once his face had been clean (if not a little wet with saliva instead), Naruto had given his lover a tongue-kiss in thanks, the taste still lingering in their mouths. "There's a mental image for the next time you have that salted tongue stuff you think is so yummy."

He remembered how quite a bit later Gaara had _dared_ to stop with a finger halfway inside him and start snickering, excusing it only with a "Déjà vu."

"Do I want to know?"

Gaara had smirked a little wider. "Well, last time involved heavy sand armors, kunais and exploding tags, but I believe you do know."

After a few seconds of thinking, he had thrown his head back to the pillow in loud guffaw. "Well, that doesn't _feel_ like 'a thousand years of pain'…"

"I'm glad to hear." The finger had pressed in deeper and felt around hesitantly. "What does it feel like?"

"A bit weird, but… keep going, I guess you're doing it ri– Ah! Mmm… definitely… right… d-do that again…"

The name of the gland Gaara's fingers had found he had easily forgotten right after hearing the redhead say it. But they had done their best to make sure neither of them forgot what they could make it do.

Most of all he remembered how they had indeed managed to fit full sentences and _laughter_ in between the bouts of panting and moaning, and how relaxed their experimentation had been once they had gotten over the 'this is it' jitters and performing anxiety. He had realized rather quickly that as much as it didn't bother him that the reasoning had caused him to start on the bottom, he hadn't really needed to cut Gaara any slack. Perhaps if they had gotten to this point a couple of years sooner, the once so broken boy would have still been unsure and reserved, and in need of some aggressive assurance of that all his confusing feelings for Naruto were being reciprocated. The young man he knew now, however, could see for himself that they both loved each other more than anything, and that neither of them minded if nothing went quite according to plan.

There would be lots of practice to be had.

Quite unforgettable were also the wonderfully unrestrained expressions on his lover's face, and how he had had to keep losing his view on them because even if you are already joined at another part of your bodies, sometimes thirty seconds is simply too long to go without sucking face. His favorite one had surfaced a little sooner than intended, sure, but whether Gaara was on top of and inside him, or lying beside him with his head resting on his tanned shoulder and pumping him when he came, didn't really matter, did it. The result had been plenty of lounging on the bed, lazily embracing, smiling at each other and gathering strength to get up and shower, either way.

And yes, he did remember very well how Gaara had soon turned off the shower saying they were wasting water, when it had become evident that before they could properly wash up, they were going to kiss and embrace quite a bit more.

How responsible. No wonder he had jumped from genin to kage in his early teens.

Then sleep. Demon-enhanced stamina or not, that had definitely been the only candidate for their next indulgence by the time they had reached the bed again. Before his consciousness had drifted off to meet the other kind of sandman, he remembered fumbling with how to hold Gaara as close as possible but without having his spine press into his chest, as the bony redhead had insisted on being spooned. Maybe it had to do with getting used to having something on his back most of the time.

Of all the things to say, his last words awake that night had been to ask why that bony back wasn't crooked and deformed by now. He believed the answer had been that the gourd mostly supported itself, due to being infused with chakra, but he couldn't be sure.

For all he knew, he might have just thought he had asked the question, while in actuality figuring it out by himself and saying something sweet and mushy instead. But that didn't matter either, because he knew that if that was the case, then the answer had been something sweet and mushy as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Princes and Halves of Kingdoms**

Kankuro was trying to mind his manners and not spy, but his resolve was beginning to fail. After getting up way earlier than he usually did just to match Gaara's schedule, but then waiting for him at the kitchen table for an hour anyway, he was now in front of his brother's bedroom door. And infinitely curious not only about how the date had gone last night, but also about why someone normally so insanely punctual was suddenly sleeping in. He didn't know whether to take it as a good or a bad sign.

He supposed he should lean more towards 'good', as that had been the case with all other deviations from the norm, lately. Suddenly Gaara was smiling to himself in his office (and he could swear that before he had noticed him coming in, he had been humming, too) –he had a date. He had barely touched the snacks Kankuro had brought him –he was just distracted and nervous about said date.

The food had been the reason he had gone to the office, or rather a believable excuse to pry what inside joke he was missing out on.

From a very young age Gaara had made sure to prepare most of his meals himself, as poisoning his food would have been the easiest way to assassinate him, especially when all direct attacks seemed to simply feed his sand. Kankuro was more than informed on the matter that to the right person, any and all poisons imaginable were easily available in this village.

As Gaara therefore only ate when he felt really hungry, especially during his insomniac years he had often just forgotten that he needed to. It was so much of a habit that if it hadn't been for his siblings, or his friends who occasionally dragged him out for lunch (Naruto included, though his infamous definition of lunch, breakfast, dinner and any meal at all couldn't be very healthy either), he would sometimes still have gone a whole day on nothing but tea. Now that he could trust the people around him, though, making sure to at least try any food he was offered –regardless of whether it looked less edible than his own first attempts as a self-taught chef of six years old must have– had become one of his ways of showing that trust, so it had been unusual.

Kankuro looked around to see that no one would catch him pressing his ear to the door. No sounds, not even snoring. Was he in there at all?

Apparently yes, since the door was locked. Well, weren't situations like this what keys were for…

With the quietness of the shinobi he was, he opened the door just enough to see inside. The angle and the darkness in the room limited his vision, but from what he could make out, yes, Gaara was still sleeping. And… what else was wrong with the picture?

It could be the scattered mess of clothing on the floor. Whenever he had seen his little brother's room, it had always been freakishly clean for a boy of his age. He supposed the classic explanation was that having had so little control over his life otherwise, Gaara took comfort in at least keeping his own stuff in perfect order (which had to be the biggest case of irony ever –Kankuro remembered wishing _he_ could be too scary to be nagged at, too, the times any of their caretakers of varying quality had made a remark about the condition of _his_ room). Even that chaos of an office desk was always neat and organized at the end of the day.

Speaking of misplaced clothing, Gaara had his back to the door and the blanket nearly reached his neck, but Kankuro could still tell that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Since when? Gaara always said the desert nights were cold, and though the building had a heating system, his slightly underfed body apparently still felt cold in any temperature lower than 'scorching', and that's why–

Wait.

How had he missed _that_?

Barely visible, obscured by a pale shoulder, was a head of messy hair in such position that it probably had a cheek pressed against Gaara's (now confirmed bare) chest. And was that a hand peeking from underneath the blanket, resting as if it had been on Gaara's back before its owner fell asleep? Yep, there was definitely an arm draped around his brother's waist.

Gaara was sleeping, possibly naked, and not alone. Kankuro turned away from the door to lean his back against the wall, collect his thoughts and grin for a while. Apparently the date had gone _really_ well indeed.

He quickly reached to shut the door as quietly as he managed, when he suddenly heard a sound of sheets rustling inside the room. Just before he closed the gap between the door and its frame and hastily tiptoed down the hall and then the stairs, he heard Gaara's sleepy voice mutter: "Morning breath. Brush your teeth first."

Now, was that any way to talk to a lady when she was trying to tell you good morning with a kiss? Then again, she was probably used to and unaffected by Gaara's complete inability in the art of sugarcoating, if she had known him long enough to gain his trust and access to his bed.

Back in the kitchen of their little 'home' section of the Kazekage mansion, he found Temari making herself breakfast, mouth gaping in a yawn and hair 'down' (more like pointing in every direction). She eyed him suspiciously, by now being perfectly capable of seeing when one of her brothers was plotting something.

"Good morning, sis," he greeted her with a voice that added 'I know something you don't', and took a seat at the table.

"Hm, I hope it is one," she replied warily. "Where's Gaara, shouldn't he be up by now? I wonder if he's sick."

"No no, quite the contrary…"

"And what would that be?" Her gaze was urging him to drop any guessing games and get to the point, as she was becoming awfully curious about what the hell was going on. She sat down next to him –within range of some more effective interrogation methods, just in case.

"Oh, I guess he's just a little tired and recovering from his _date last night_," her brother threw at her like it was nothing special, still grinning.

"Date? Our little Gaara?"

"He's not that little anymore. And apparently he's finally realized it himself, too."

"Well, yes, but…" Temari was staring at her toast, trying to get the idea through to her head. Sure, Gaara had never really been a 'child' or a 'teenager', but she couldn't see him as an 'adult' very easily either. He _was_ the Kazekage, but still… their little Gaara? Growing up? Going on a _date_?

"Come on now, don't look so shocked. Isn't it a good thing?"

Of course it was. She was being silly. She should be happy that her little brother was doing normal things like dating. In some ways, despite of his efforts, he was still very cut off from the rest of the human race, and acting about twenty years older than he really was. His allowing himself to be young and reckless shouldn't be limited to violent tantrums as a twelve-year-old. Temari just nodded and smiled, then quickly looked up at her other little brother.

"And what do you know about this? Who is it?"

Kankuro shrugged. "Didn't get to ask him, but I guess we'll find out soon." He then added the last sentence very audibly, making sure Temari was listening. "She's upstairs right now."

Temari blinked.

"WHAT?"

"Cuddling in his bed, more specifically. Didn't see her face, but I say we wait for them to get down for breakfast. He did mention yesterday that I know her." He recognized his sister's glare and quickly continued. They had all become very adept at sensing when one of them was plotting something. "_Not_ like that! Geez, I can have girl friends without them having been my girlfriends."

Temari sat back in her chair with a huff, seemingly satisfied with the assurances. "I suppose it's better that she's already a friend," she contemplated. "We'll be seeing a lot of her from now on and I _hope_ she isn't one of those trophy-wife-wannabes… though I guess I should trust Gaara to have better taste than that…"

"You almost sound like she's moving in already."

Temari glared again. "She very well may be. I know Kankuros don't take these things very seriously, but Gaaras mate for life. That girl upstairs is probably our future sister-in-law."

Kankuro gulped. Yes, she had better be someone tolerable in that case, all of the previous Kazekage's children were still living together, after all (because, really, why move out from the most well-off household in Suna?). Gaara had said Kankuro knew her, but nothing about her being his friend. What did 'definitely not one of your exes' mean, anyway? If she was obviously not someone he would ever date, would she also be someone he wouldn't get along with?

They both snapped out of their thoughts at the sound of footsteps down the stairs. Kankuro saw Temari's mouth silently form the words 'behave yourself', and anxiously directed his gaze at the door.

Gaara stepped in, alone, dressed in the kind of simple clothes he usually wore underneath his robes, looking no different from any other morning. He nodded at his staring siblings and made his way to the jug kettle sitting on the counter.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Kankuro asked, and immediately got smacked on the back of his head by Temari.

"Very subtle," she whispered.

"Putting some clothes on," Gaara stated, filling the kettle with a little more water than he usually needed. He was glad he had his back to his siblings, or they would have seen him smirking. Of course, he had been awake for about an hour already, waiting for Naruto to wake up, and had noticed Kankuro peeking into his room a while ago. A blunt answer to a blunt question.

"So uh… did you get dinner at all?" Kankuro tried, suddenly worried about his brother's eating again. Though it did also come off as an 'or did you just go to your room and skip straight to the good stuff?'.

"No." Gaara dug his tea out of the cupboard and continued his search. He was fairly sure of which shelf held the dish he knew his 'girlfriend' would want to include in his breakfast. Since he had visited him so often as a friend, they had an ample supply in their kitchen… somewhere.

Kankuro's only reaction to his answer was a raise of eyebrows and an amused 'hm'.

"We did eat, though, so don't worry," Gaara said as he returned to the kettle, having finally found what he was looking for. "We woke up around midnight and came down here for a snack."

He thought it best to leave out what else they had done in the kitchen, involving wearing only dressing robes (which had become opened dressing robes pretty soon, no less), trying to sit in the same chair, and things they had hurried back to the bedroom to finish. No reason to make the revelation any more traumatizing.

Two heads turned to the door again as another set of footsteps was heard on the stairs. Gaara simply sat down and set on the table in front of the vacant seat next to him a cup of steaming instant–

"Ramen!"

Temari and Kankuro stared speechlessly as Naruto strode to his seat, kissed their brother on the top of his head with a half-squeak-half-cooing of 'Thanks Gaara, you're the best', and begun to devour his breakfast.

Temari recovered first, with a twitch. "N-Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Good question," Naruto grinned up from his already nearly finished noodles and sent a sly glance at his boyfriend. "Who knew Gaara was the type to have sex on the first date."

As both of his siblings seemed to have gone mute again, Gaara spoke up: "Temari, Kankuro –I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto put an arm around Gaara's shoulders and waved a little with his other hand. "Hi."

This was a prank. It had to be. Then again… it made sense, didn't it? Who else did Gaara _ever_ pay that much attention to; he even spoke about Naruto all the time when he wasn't around. Temari had assumed it was just because of the effects the sunny foxboy's view on life had had on Gaara's own, and because they had so much in common and Naruto had saved his life once… but how had she not noticed the way they looked at each other? Who had she been kidding, Gaara never looked at any _girls_ like that.

And of course, _somebody_ had to have done to Naruto's neck what Gaara's higher-collared shirt was probably hiding on his.

Beside her, Kankuro had obviously reached the same conclusion, though he put it less romantically.

"So am I to understand that you fucked my brother last night?"

"Honestly, no. It was the other way around," Naruto replied and stuffed the last of his ramen into his mouth, wondering whether Kankuro's once again surprised face was more due to what he had said or the casual tone he had said it with. It _should_ be the latter –he was pretty sure the kanji on Gaara's forehead read out as 'ai' and not 'uke'.

"…I don't want details."

"You wouldn't be getting any," Gaara mumbled from behind his tea mug.

Temari sighed. "Well, you know what I have to say now, don't you." She leaned over to Naruto and looked him in the eye, making him move back in his chair. "If I ever see him upset and clutching his shirt over his heart because of you…"

Naruto nodded frantically. "…you'll kick my ass. Got it," he finished for her, not too keen on hearing her version of the rest of the sentence. "Trust me, I'd rather kick my own ass than hurt him. I could do that, too –shadow clones!"

Temari gave him a wide toothy smile that almost looked like a scarier version of his signature fox-grin, and ruffled his hair. "There's a good boy. Welcome to the family, then. Kankuro?" She turned to look at her brother, who also cowered a little at being the center of her attention.

"Oh, well, I guess I should have seen this coming a mile away," he admitted. "And I know I wouldn't be able to make him change his mind if I wanted to–" He was glad to see Gaara nod at this statement. No, he didn't really want to. Naruto practically _was_ part of the family already. "–so I guess you're okay by me, too. Just remember what Temari said, because I'll help her."

"I promise. Want me to do a nice-guy pose, too?"

Kankuro gestured at him as if it was, naturally, to be expected, when a pale hand grabbed him by the sleeve of his t-shirt before he could get up. Concluding the 'introductions' with a look of both approval and amusement, Gaara moved on. "I will be taking a day off work today, except for one prearranged meeting taking place an hour from now. I would like your advice before that, Temari."

She nodded, and he turned to Naruto. "I will meet up with you once that's over. Don't go too far."

Naruto kissed him on the lips, watching from the corner of his eye the reactions of his newly acquired in-laws. "Wouldn't waste our day together on looking for each other all over Suna," he said with a smirk.

Gaara smiled back at him, trying very hard to ready himself to break a little girl's heart when his own was feeling so unprecedentedly intact. He knew this was still far from a 'happily ever after', and in the very least they would likely never be able to live together permanently, but their devotion to each other and their loyalty and ambitions for their villages didn't have to be mutually exclusive. If anything, these different types of love should serve to only strengthen one another further. Chiyo-baasama had entrusted this world to the two of them, and they would look after it together to their best ability.

But farsightedness aside, right now he was going to enjoy his week with Naruto, and perhaps a little more.

Yes, why not? The current Hokage should probably be made aware of the latest development concerning her successor, and it was quite frankly his duty to be present at that discussion (come to think of it, it wouldn't be much unlike the situation he had just put Naruto through). Surely it wouldn't be too much to ask to have Konoha lodge him for a week in turn, seeing as he wouldn't even require a hotel room, or a spare bed, for that matter.

And perhaps Naruto would even be allowed to walk him home after that.


End file.
